P3 billion in salaries, income expected weekly under Alert Level 1 – NEDA chief

Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua, NEDA director-general (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — As much as P3 billion in salaries and income weekly is expected to be gained in areas, including Metro Manila, that will return to Alert Level 1 starting Tuesday, March 1, according to Secretary Karl Chua, chief of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

The Philippines lost about P1.3 trillion in salaries or income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the shift to Alert Level 1, the country would be “really on the road of recovery,” Chua said during the taped weekly “Talk to the People” briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We need to accelerate and sustain para so we can recover what we lost because of the pandemic,” he said.

A total of P9.4 billion worth of economic activity per week will be gained under Alert Level 1, which includes the P3 billion in salaries. There will also be 170,000 fewer unemployed individuals in the next quarter.

Metro Manila and 38 other areas will be under Alert Level 1 from March 1 to March 15.

Meanwhile, a total of P16.5 billion weekly is expected when the whole country eases back to Alert Level 1, Chua said.

This includes P5.2 billion in salaries and 297,000 fewer unemployed over the next quarter.

The tourism sector is also expected to regain about P750 billion of the P1.5 million it lost during the pandemic.

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